Valla Blackveil
"You don't know anything about honour. No, you're nothing but a wayward drifter, no use to anyone. You shall wander no more."--Valla, to Alia Ashfeld Ser Valla Blackveil is a supporting character in the Legends of Altmar campaign. She is a knight and adventurer and serves as an antagonist and rival figure to Alia Ashfeld. Valla spends her time alongside her party exacting justice throughout the Duchy of Antioch and throughout the Empire. Biography Valla does not speak much of her past, especially her childhood, but her face sometimes shows signs of old pain. She is a member of the Blackveil Family and has served as a knight for the Duke of Antioch since she came of age and served in military campaigns throughout the Empire. She served in the most recent Redspan conflict, as well as the latest Tuchanon Rebellion. At some point she met Belle Breen and began travelling with her as an adventurer. Later being joined by the strange hermit Ghent Strauss and Dean , a priest of the Warrior Saints who would become her lover, together the formed The Arsonists, named after an unfortunate incident during their travels. Eventually while travelling near Calis, they came upon a lost and frightened Emilia Halford and began the journey north to bring her back to Strombran Personality Valla is a fierce and determined woman and very little can get in her way once she has set her mind to something. She is also very hotheaded and quick to anger. Despite this she has a strong sense of justice and will not hesitate to punish evildoers or protect innocent people. She is also extremely loyal to the people she is close to and will defend them to her last breath. While many consider her methods extreme, she is loyal and reliable to the people and causes she supports. ''Bad Tidings'' The Legends of Altmar initially encountered Valla and her party during a festival celebrating Saint Fortuna in the town of Sendberg. When they party discovered that they had been travelling with Emilia, intending to bring her back to Strombran, Rikkert and Alia got into a scuffle with Valla, and escaped with Emilia. Valla followed them chasing them almost to Velen where she challenged Alia to a duel for the young woman. After defeating Alia, Valla intended on killing her, only for Rikkert to intervene, knocking her out and leaving her in the woods. She was later found with her party, nursing her wounds, by Ahamed, Gimlee, and Luther. Valla swore to bring Alia and Rikkert to justice. Relationships Belle Breen While initially Belle found herself on the wrong end of Valla's ire, the half-elf has grown on Valla and is now possibly her closest friend (something Valla does not have many of). While Belle's tendancy to find loopholes in the letter of the law, carelessness, and preference to solve problems subtly sometimes annoys Valla, Belle is also one of the few people who can talk Valla down once she is angered. Belle sometimes gets a little heated herself and the others in her group have witnessed shouting matches between the two, though they have always made up after, strengthening their friendship. Overall, the two are close friends even if Valla may be reluctant to admit it sometimes. Dean Roth Valla and Dean are a strange pair, but she cares deeply for the shy priest. His dour demeanor and typical defeatist attitude sometimes irritate her greatly but more often than not she finds it endearing, referring to him as 'her little raincloud'. She relies on him for his medicinal knowledge and spiritual guidance, and she will be the first to admit he often cools her usual fiery demeanor. If he is ever threatened, very little could stop her incoming wrath. Ghent Strauss Valla tolerates Ghent's presence, though she is generally wary of the strange old man. She sees him as a capable fighter, though she was shocked to witness his abilities for the first time. His eccentric personality concerns her at times and while she tends to keep her distance, his wisdom has proven useful, a fact which she does not forget. Alia Ashfeld Valla hates Alia passionately as she believes Alia has no honour due to her lack of service to a lord. In Valla's eyes, Alia has abandoned her duties as a knight and should not be considered a noble. This in addition to both of their strong personalities led to a heated rivalry and eventually violence. Due to Valla's perception of Emilia's escape with Rikkert and Alia as kidnapping, she intends to bring Alia to justice, once she can track her down. Rikkert Velnaar Valla believes Rikkert is an honourless criminal. She refuses to respect him as a warrior due to his lowborn status, perceived crimes, and personal attack on her honor after he interrupted her duel with Alia. She intends to bring him to justice for what she believes was a kidnapping of Emilia Halford. Appearances *''Bad Tidings'' **Monsters Get Slain Trivia *As with the rest of the Arsonists, Valla is a reinterpretation of a player character from a different game, the party of the DM's sister who plays in it, meant as a friendly cameo. While the characters have some traits in common, the character evolved to become much different as a result of a change in setting and during the course of the story, much more so than the other members of the Arsonists. *Alia's interesting interactions with Valla led to her becoming a recurring character. *The character was originally a Drow Paladin, but had to be changed to a Human Cavalier to fit the setting. Her status as a quarter-elf is a reference to this. *Valla is the first NPC to win a duel against a player character, defeating Alia Ashfeld.